26 Answers

I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other about it being in South Africa. Any country it would be in I would be happy that the world has come together for an athletic event. I like these moments in time, like the olympics, when we feel more united, and that the world is small. I had not heard of any corruption, I hope it isn’t true.

Like I would like to point out it’s only a roomer, but it’s South Africa where anything is possible!
How ever it’s a good thing that such an event can be held in Africa. If it was not SA hosting the world cup the 87th ranked SA team would never be able to play in the world cup.

I think the rumors are complete poppycock. People who know the outcomes of the other matches know very well that a vastly superior team can produce a complete fuckup against an inferior opponent. See England vs USA. Germany vs Serbia. Brazil vs North Korea (yes, Brazil won, but only by 2–1, the highest ranked team against the 105th on the list).

You may be right, but what if these RUMORS are been covered up by the organizing body? I think it will be an embarrassment to both sides and FIFA. After all I still believe that the game between Ireland and France before the world cup was unfair when they awarded that goal to France and that resulted that Ireland could not play in the world cup, so I think sometimes where there is smoke there is a fire!

I love it when an “inside source” is the apparent head of any rumour mongering.It usually means “hey we made this shit up on a rather slow news day”. Football & particularly the world cup is clean & free from such nonsense.It did blight the game in the late seventies early eighties.In Italy Paolo Rossi the darling of the 1982 world cup winning team was involved in match fixing allegations amongst other stuff for which he received a lengthy ban.So yeah I think it’s safe to say all the results can be taken at face value.Shock results happen it’s what makes the tournament come alive.

SA world cup will be remembered for the Vuvuzela noise, the corruption, match fixing, crime, ugly prostitutes, and the worst SA soccer team ever, if nothing else the noise. If any one is working for EA games when developing World Cup Soccer please remove the Vuvuzela sound!

@Anonymoususer I hate that vuvuzelas sound too, but I love SOME Spanish narrators more! Haha so much passion…
Funny thing, You switch channels between Spanish and English and you hear in ESPN the vuvuzelas more… In Spanish they are always talking about the game, the World cup, etc, so the noise its not that bad…

It’s been mostly boring up until the Brazil vs Ivory Coast game tonight. Good display of footy with added Brazilian diving which wound up the Ivorians who returned the favour much to the disgust of the world. Brazil got just what they deserved – a taste of their own medicine!

@El_Perseguidor Sí se. Or maybe you are Brazilian? I don’t know Portuguese :). I once asked a question asking if people from other countries in the Americas mind if the USA uses America like we are the only ones on the continent. I think you would have liked that one.

@JLeslie I am Guatemalan. I know i have conversation with some Americans about that! hahaha… Hey did you know that the long name or “real“name of mexico is Mexican United States? Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Funny

People love to complain about corruption in football matches, especially when the team they favor doesn’t play well. It’s easier to blame the officiating than it is to admit your team laid an egg out on the pitch.

Games that require continuity, don’t allow for long inactive stretches and therefore don’t have the benefit of instant replay are subject to the fallibility of the human referee and his judgment calls on what is in front of him at the time. Try as he might he can’t keep an eye on 22 guys and their every move simultaneously for 90 minutes. It’s just not possible. They do what they can with what they have and that adds to the drama (and in my opinion beauty) of the game.

I didn’t like a lot of the calls that went against Mexico in the match against France, mostly due to the fact that I am fiercely loyal to my national team. Upon replay after the match I had to admit 99% of them were spot on. It’s easy to criticize from home but the only way to have an accurate vantage point is to be out there on the field.

As to the Mexico vs SA game… I loved every second of it! I found that while it was extremely entertaining the Mexican side didn’t play up to their usual level and could have done much better. Opening game jitters in a foreign country on your sport’s biggest stage is nothing to scoff at. Thankfully they pulled it together and held on for a draw. They were greatly improved against a disorganized French team and I loved them for it.

No… I don’t think this world cup will be remembered for the corruption. I think American fans will remember it for what many feel was a “stolen” goal, although the replay shows that the ref was already reaching for his whistle in reaction to one of many fouls before the ball was even struck and way before the player was in position to score. Both sides were being overly aggressive, it just so happened that the player directly in front of the ref committing a foul was a USA player.

I was sad about that call but it seems fair in hindsight. Opinion on this will be varied of course depending on personal views on the rules and team bias, but the fact remains that the call cannot be reversed.

Either way I’m loving this world cup and can’t wait for the elimination rounds!

@El_Perseguidor How do you do it? I sometimes write out the sentence in Word and then copy paste into fluther. Maybe you have a different keyboard? To make a tilde in Word I have to control/shift/tilde all at once and then type the letter. It doesn’t work on fluther.